St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-11-26

| Jones, Oh L Illtt'ttl q u
spirit now, wrote a book entitled Man
/ Moral and Physical" in which he shows
| how different the same things may appear
to different people. He says: "After the
great battle on the Mincio in 1859, be-
tween the French and Sardinians on the
one side and the Austrians on the other
so disastrous to the latter, the defeated
army retreated, followed by the victors
A description of the march of each army
is given by two correspondents of the Lon.
don Times, one of whom travelled with the
successful host, the other with the de
fcated.. The difference in views and
statements of the same place, scenes and
events, is remarkable. The former arc
said to be marching through a beautiful
and luXurant country during the day,
and at night encamping where they are
supplied with an abundance of the best
provisions, and all sorts Of rural dam
ties. There is nothing of war about
the proceeding, except its stimulus and
excitement. On the side of the poor
AuStrians it is just the reverse. In his
letter of the same date, describing the
same places and a march over the same
road, the writer can scarcely find words
to set forth the suffering, Impotence and
disgust existing around him. hat was
pleasant to the former was intOerable to
the latter. What made all this differ
ence: asks the Journalist. One condi-
ton only: The French are victorious,
the Austrians have been defeated. The
contrast may convey distinctive idea of
the extent to which moral impressions
affect the efficiency of the soldier"
So, my dear brother, the road you are
travelling is the same YOU have been trav-
cling a long while but the difference in
your physical conditions makes it look
different, and therefore the two reports
YOU have given Of yourself are as widely
different as the reports in the London
Times from two correspondents. Edward
PaysOn, sometimes SO far up on the
Mount that it seemed as if the cenlripe-
tai force of earth could no longer hold
him, sometimes through a physical dis
order was So far down that ii seemed as
if neither world would clutch him. Glori-
Gus " illlam COWper was as good as good
could be, and will be loved in the Chris
tian Church as long As it sings his hymn
beginning: "There is a fountain filled
with Blood and his hymn beginning !:
Oh for closer walk with God" and his
hymn beginning: "What various
hindranccs we meet and his hymn
beginning: "GOd moves in a mysterious
way" Yet so was he overcome of melan
chOly, or black bile, that it was only
through the mistake of the Cabdriyer
who took him to wrong place, instead
of the river bank, that he did not com
NIT suicide.
Spiritual condition so NIGHTLY affected
by the physical state. what a great OPP
portunity this gives to the Christian ply
stefan, for be can feel at the same time
both the pulse of the body and the pulse
of the soul, and he can administer to
both at once, and if medicine is needed,
he can give that, and if spiritual counsel
is needed, he can give that-an earthly
and divine prescription at the same
time-and call Oh not only the apOthe
cary of earth, but the pharmacy of
Heaven. All, that is the kind Of doc
tor | want at my bedside when |
get sick, one that can not only count out
the right number of drops, but who can
also pray. That is the kind of doctor
have had in my house when sickness or
death came. | do not want any of your
prOf1igate or atheiStic doctors around my
loved ones when the balances of life are
~ bDllDl W no Has StiIC
through the medical college, and in dis
secting rooms has traversed the wonders
of the human mechanism, and found no
God in any of the labyrinths, is a fool, and
cannot doctor me or mine. But, oh, the
Christian doctors What a comfort they
have been in many of our households. And
they ought to have warm place in our
prayers, as well as praise on our tongues.
Dear old DR.. Skillman. My fathers
doctor, my mothers doctor, in the village
home he carried all the condolences of all
the families for ten miles around. We
all felt better as soon as we saw him en-
ter the house. His face pronounced a
beatitude before he said a word. He well
coined all of us children into life, and he
closed the old peoples eyes when they
entered the last slumber. | think I
know what Christ said to him when the
old doctor got through his work. |
think he was greeted with the words
Come in, doctor | was sick and
we visited me?" I bless God that
the number of Christian physicians
is multiplying and some of the students
of the medical colleges are here to-day,
and l hail you, and l bless you, and
ordain you to the tender, beautiful,
Heaven descended work of a Christian
physician; and when you take your
diploma from the Long Island Medical
College, to look after the perishable body,
be sure also to get diploma from the
skies to look after the imperishable soul.
Let all Christian physicians unite
with ministers of the Gospel in
persuading good people that it is
not because God is against them that
they sometimes feel depressed, but be-
cause of their diseased body. l suppose
David, the psalmist, was no more pious
when he called on everything human and
angelic, animate and inanimate, and
from snowflake to hurricane, to praise
God, than when he said: "Out of the
depths of hell have cried unto Thee, o
Lord" or that jeremiah was any better
when he wrote his Prophecy than when
he wrote his Lamentations or that
Job was any better when he said: Il
know that my Redeemer liveth," than
when covered all over with the pus-
tules of elephantiasis he sat in the
ashes scratching the scabs off with a
broken piece of pottery; or that Alexan-
der Cruden, the concordist, was any bet
ter man when he compiled the book that
has helped ten thousand students of the
Bible, than when under the power of
disorder he was handcutfed and
strait waistcoated in Bethnal Green In
sane Asylum.
"Oh," says some Christian man, mo
one ought to allow physical disorder to
depress his soul He ought to live so